The Ultimate Transgression: Offshores, Kompromat Culture & the Competitive Depravity Olympics (with Brooke Harrington)
Fri Dec 12 2025
Rich people are not like us–they have more money. And mega-rich people? They not only have more money, but they hide it “offshore,” to avoid detection by the tax man, law enforcement, creditors, divorce lawyers, and, sometimes, their fellow citizens whose collective coffers they’ve plundered.
In this conversation, Greg Olear speaks with the economic sociology professor Brooke Harrington, author of Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, about the murky world of offshore finance, its implications for global inequality, the challenges of studying the ultra-rich, the culture of competitive depravity among the wealthy, and the dangers of their influence on both democracy and capitalism. They also discuss the looming AI bubble, the true purpose of AI, Jeffrey Epstein, and why studying the humanities is so vital.
Brooke Harrington is Professor of Economic Sociology at Dartmouth College. Since 2007, she has examined inequality from the top end of the socio-economic spectrum—a research program inaugurated by her training for two years to become a certified offshore wealth manager. Her previous book—Capital without Borders —won the “Outstanding Book” award from the Inequality, Poverty and Mobility section of the American Sociological Association. She advises the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, EU Parliament, and the tax agencies of countries across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Her latest book, Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, was named a “Best Book” of 2024 by the Financial Times.
Follow Brooke:
https://bsky.app/profile/ebharrington.bsky.social
Visit her website:
https://brookeharrington.com/
Buy the book:
https://brookeharrington.com/books/offshore-book/
Please subscribe to PREVAIL on Substack. There’s six full years’ worth of work in the archives on Trump, Russia, Jeffrey Epstein, Leonard Leo, and much more. Every piece at PREVAIL is free to read and always will be. No paywalls, ever. Your generous support keeps it that way. Subscriptions are just $6.99 a month, $65 a year. Visit gregolear.substack.com to learn more.
Make America Great Gatsby Again!
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t
Subscribe to The Five 8:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhA
Check out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17
ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
More
Rich people are not like us–they have more money. And mega-rich people? They not only have more money, but they hide it “offshore,” to avoid detection by the tax man, law enforcement, creditors, divorce lawyers, and, sometimes, their fellow citizens whose collective coffers they’ve plundered. In this conversation, Greg Olear speaks with the economic sociology professor Brooke Harrington, author of Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, about the murky world of offshore finance, its implications for global inequality, the challenges of studying the ultra-rich, the culture of competitive depravity among the wealthy, and the dangers of their influence on both democracy and capitalism. They also discuss the looming AI bubble, the true purpose of AI, Jeffrey Epstein, and why studying the humanities is so vital. Brooke Harrington is Professor of Economic Sociology at Dartmouth College. Since 2007, she has examined inequality from the top end of the socio-economic spectrum—a research program inaugurated by her training for two years to become a certified offshore wealth manager. Her previous book—Capital without Borders —won the “Outstanding Book” award from the Inequality, Poverty and Mobility section of the American Sociological Association. She advises the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, EU Parliament, and the tax agencies of countries across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Her latest book, Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, was named a “Best Book” of 2024 by the Financial Times. Follow Brooke: https://bsky.app/profile/ebharrington.bsky.social Visit her website: https://brookeharrington.com/ Buy the book: https://brookeharrington.com/books/offshore-book/ Please subscribe to PREVAIL on Substack. There’s six full years’ worth of work in the archives on Trump, Russia, Jeffrey Epstein, Leonard Leo, and much more. Every piece at PREVAIL is free to read and always will be. No paywalls, ever. Your generous support keeps it that way. Subscriptions are just $6.99 a month, $65 a year. Visit gregolear.substack.com to learn more. Make America Great Gatsby Again! https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t Subscribe to The Five 8: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhA Check out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17 ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.